Santa Cruz, CA native and Truckee, CA resident, John Davis is a pioneer in the sports of wheelchair racing (via a downhill mountain bike) and adaptive skiing.
John has twice achieved gold medal performances doing what he loves most, skiing. Aside from his Paralympic accomplishments, John has been featured in the award winning film The Chariot Races, shared the spotlight with the engineer of his off road wheelchair, John Castellano, in a Coca Cola Commercial, and even climbed the corporate ladder for a few years. John is currently working on several fundamentally innovative, morally compelling, and philosophically positive projects to keep him busy when not on the slopes enjoy the steeps of Squaw Valley.
On May 4th 2014, John will be competing in the Red Bull Wings for Life World Run in Santa Clarita, CA to raise money for Spinal Cord Research!
The Wings for Life World Run is an entirely new type of event never before seen or undertaken in either running or any other sporting field. Why? Because it is a truly global adventure, encompassing up to forty locations, in which everyone runs at the very same time all over the world!
The run in Santa Clarita is the only west coast location in this global event. Santa Clarita, the third largest city in Los Angeles County, is known for its outdoor lifestyle amenities, including more than 70 miles of trails and ample open space, which provides a picturesque course for competitors.
Learn more or register for the run at: wingsforlifeworldrun.com
REGISTRATION FOR THE WHEELCHAIR CATEGORY RACE IS NOW OPEN FOR THE WINGS FOR LIFE WORLD RUN USA IN SANTA CLARITA!
Who can participate?
Anyone 18 and over is invited to participate. Only self-powered wheelchairs will be permitted on the track. Handbikes are not permitted due to safety concerns. All wheelchair participants will race at the same time, but there will be separate male and female winners in the wheelchair category.
How does it work?
The Wheelchair Category Race will start at 08.00 UTC (2:00 AM PST), two hours prior to the global runners’ start of 10 AM UTC time. 15 minutes after start of the Wheelchair Category Race the Catcher Cars will begin their pursuit at a constant pace of 25mph. There is no set race distance, time, or finish line for the Wheelchair Category Race. The catcher car will continue on its mission until every last participant has been overtaken.
In the US, the last male and female competitors to be passed by the Catcher Car at each race location will become local US race winners for such race location, while the last male and female competitors who covers the greatest distant before being passed by the Catcher Car out of all US race locations combined will be crowned the US national winner.
What are the awards?
Each US local race winner will be awarded an opportunity to race at any US race location within the wheelchair category at the next subsequent Wings for Life World Run Each US National winner will be awarded an opportunity to race in a race location (globally) of such winner’s choosing that has a wheelchair category in the next subsequent race Wings for Life World Run.
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In 2012, Heather Hansman of Powder Magazine sat down with John Davis to discuss skiing and adaptive sports. Watch and share the video below:
